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has never preached in a Catholic Church, and he does not agree with them in the joining of one
church. If you heard this, it is nothing but false rumors.” However, in 1963, he did speak at the
Roman Catholic Belmont Abbey in North Carolina. Robert Ferm, a member of his team, on
many occasions, has informed the faithful that Graham would “never compromise the gospel by
consorting with Catholics,” yet Ferm was the one who spoke to the students and faculty before
the Crusade at Notre Dame (1977). In the early 1990’s, a retired missionary wrote the BGEA to
find out why he was sending new converts to the Catholic Church. The response from T.W.
Wilson was: “I do not know where you got your information– but I’m sure you have been
misinformed.” As you have seen, he not only has sent converts to Catholic Churches, but also to
other churches who do not believe in a literal interpretation of the Bible.
Billy Graham attended the initial assembly of the World Council of Churches as an observer,
as well as later meetings, eventually becoming a speaker. In 1960 he attended the National
Council of Churches’ 50th anniversary celebration in San Francisco, where he was a guest
speaker.
Graham had said that one of his best friends is Jessie Bader, who was the Secretary of
Evangelism for the National Council of Churches. In a speech to the NCC he said: “My wife is a
Presbyterian. Her denomination is in the National Council so perhaps I am here by marriage.” In
another speech on August 27, 1991 he said:
“There’s no group of people in the world that I would rather be with right now than you
all. Because I think of you, I pray for you, and we follow with great interest the things
you do … I don’t speak to too many church assemblies any more because I consider
myself as belonging to all the churches. And I love everybody equally and I have no
problem in fellowship with anybody who says that Jesus Christ is Lord. This has been a
great relief to me to come to that conclusion about 20 some years ago.”
On April 21, 1972, Billy Graham was given the International Franciscan Award by the
Franciscan friars for his “contribution to true ecumenism,” and “his sincere and authentic
evangelism…” He told the U.S. News & World Report: “World travel and getting to know
clergy of all denominations has helped mold me into an ecumenical being. We’re separated by
theology and, in some instances, culture and race, but all of that means nothing to me any more.”
Even though he is a Baptist, President Bush invited him to lead various prayers at the 1989
inauguration. Graham wrote: “I protested at first, pointing out that it was customary to have
clergy from other traditions participate also (often a Jewish rabbi, a Catholic priest, and perhaps
an Orthodox leader). He remained adamant, however, saying he felt more comfortable with me;
besides, he added, he didn’t want people to think he was just trying to play politics by having
representatives of different faiths.” In 1992 The Oregonian quoted Graham in a Portland, Oregon
press conference as calling for “one merged church.” As you can see, the Rev. Billy Graham is
recognized as an ecumenical leader in the Christian community.
Graham has long been a supporter of the United Nations. In his biography Just As I Am he
talks about his relationship with Dag Hammarskjold, the second UN Secretary-General:
“In the 1950’s, when I was in New York City, I would occasionally slip by to visit Dag
Hammarskjold, secretary-general of the United Nations, and have prayer with him. He
was a very thoughtful, if lonely, man who was trying to make a difference for world
peace, in large part because of his Christian convictions.”